- w 



W77 
opy 1 



THE 



Geology and Mineral Products 



OK. 



MISSOURI. 




/•■ 



BY 



ARTHUR WINSLO^V, State Geologist. 



From "Missouri at the World's Fair." 

(Official Publication of the World's Fair Commission of Missouri). 



St. Louis : 

WOODWARD & TIERNAN PRINTING CO. 

1893. 




)GICAL MAP 



OF THE 



te of ]V[issoari, 



SHOWINO 



he Distribution of the 



Principal Mineral Products 



IN THE YEAR 
St. Louis 

Scale 40 Miles = I Inch. 





The Geology and flineral Products of riissouri. 



ARTHUR WINSLOW, State Geologist. 



d) 



HE State of Missouri is located in the central 
portion of the United States, in that region 
known as the Mississippi valley. It is bounded 
on the east by the Mississippi river, on the south by 
the lines 36° and 30° 30' of north latitude, and on 
the west by the meridian which passes through the 
mouth of the Kansas river at latitude 39° 1' , and 
longitude 94° 37'. Thence the boundary line follows 
the riissouri river in a northwesterly dii-ection to a 
point at about latitude 40° 34|', longitude 955°. 
This is the northwestern corner of the State, and 
thence the northern boundary line extends eastwards 
approximately along the line of same latitude to the 
Des Moines river, which it intersects at longitude 
91-1°, about 25 miles above the mouth of that stream. 
The area of the State, according to the figures of 
the eleventh census of the United States, is 69,415 
square miles. 

PHYSIOGRAPHY. 



Generally speaking, the whole State is an in- 
cised plain; no great mountain ranges traverse it. 
The maximum difference of absolute elevation within 
the whole area is only 1,500 feet; the local and 
relative differences are still less, and do not exceed 
700 feet. More closeh'^ speaking, the following four 
topographic divisions may be recognized: (1.) A 
plain or prairie country. (2.) A plateau country. 
(3.) A highland or semi-mountainous country. 
(4.) An alluvial or swamp country. 

(1.) The Prairie Country. — The prairie country 
of the State is principally represented in the northern 
portion, and in that part north of the Missouri river ; 
it also occupies, however, nearly all of the two tiers 
of counties south of that stream which extend along 
the Kansas line. Adjacent to the Missouri river and 
to other large streams this country loses its prairie 
features and is rugged and characterized by steep, 
timbered slopes and bluffs adjacent to and bordering 
the flood plains of these streams. Away from the 
channels, however, the country assumes the character 
of a broad plain, sometimes flat, but generally undu- 
lating. In fact the local differences of elevation often 
amount to 100 feet or more, but the slopes are so 
gentle that the country does not lose the aspect of a 
plain. The growth of trees is here not abundant, 
excepting along the streams. It must, however, be 



understood that, though a comparatively level and 
treeless country, it is of a very different type from 
the great flat plains of Western Kansas. 

(2.) The Plateau Country. — The plateau country 
of the State occupies the central southern part, south 
of the Missouri river. This is the area known as the 
Ozark Mountains, and is essentially a dome-shaped 
uplift, with very gentle quaquaversal slopes. It 
differs from the prairie country chiefly in its greater 
relative altitude, and in that it is not covered by a pro- 
tecting and modifying coat of glacial material. As a 
result the land is more pronouncedly sculptured. 
The valleys are cut deeper, and the slopes are more 
abrupt ; the area is made up of a series of long ridges 
and hills, divided by deep narrow vallej^s, often oi 
caiion-like dimensions. Timber is abundant, but, on 
the other hand, the land is generally less fertile than 
that of the northern portion of the State. Near the 
crest of the Ozarks the type of topography is not 
nearly so pronounced, and we have here quite a large 
expanse of undulating country ; thence, in all direc- 
tions, however, the streams cut deeper and deeper, 
and the i^rofile becomes more serrated. 

(3.) The Highland Country. — AVhat we term foi 
convenience the highland or semi-mountainous 
country, lies in Southeastern Missouri, and includes 
what we have named the St. Francois mountains. 
These are a series of knobs and domes of Archean por- 
phyry and granite which rise to altitudes of from 1,70C 
to 1,800 feet, A. T., and some 700 feet above the sur- 
rounding valleys. The whole area covered by these 
mountains is not over 1,000 square miles. These are 
distinguished from the Ozark mountains, so called, in 
form, structure and age. They are among the oldest 
elevations in America. They are not arranged by 
groups and ranges, but their distribution seems to be 
quite adventitious. The country is decidedly a tim- 
bered one, but a large part of the timber has been 
removed for railway and furnace uses. The valleys 
are underlain by Cambrian limestone, and are 
generally cultivated. 

(4.) The Alluvial Country. — The alluvial oi 
swamp country occupies the extreme southeastern 
corner of the State ; it is the alluvial or flood plain of 
the Mississippi river and its tributaries. It is almost 
entirely a low-lying and flat expanse, though in the 
western part it is traversed by a long, low ridge oi 




HAUlil- \|HEKfEK.'l 



tysii 



r' 






GEOLOGICAL MAP 

OF THE 

' State of fflissoafi, 






^-pliil.y 



-"i—rte»T^/-3 



OKI ,y ■ , 



SHO^A/ING 
The Distribution of the 



m. 



LEGEND 

I I Pleistocene 

I ' 1 Tertiary 

b i Pennsylvanian 

- ) Mississippian 



; Cambrian & Silurian 



1 I Atgonkian 

(only .1 Pilot Kool) 






"^i^^^ Principal Mineral Products 



%:w^ 



)jiv»Knrv;(5f«4.Ri., 



m^ Y^:^y.5^^jas:Fr 



„^ IN THE YEAR 

i^o^^^jj 18Q:2. 

'it. Louis 

Scale 40 Miles = r Inch. 







r>-^ .1 V I r — t -X^2 t I 

LE*0^ I JiAiJii:* 1.,! y^-'T ^,L.L 



■^y 1 



Prepared by 
Thk Missouri Geological Survey 
ro AfroMi'vs^ THE Paper 
^x Y \KiiM i> VViNvrow State GEOLOfJisT, 
>~^ Ste. Genevieve ON the 






Ml} 






11 \.i\\ 

-"T 



ini 



f ii>iOir.-n<!.- 






, i '■' '/ > 



_ /I l»>\\I.I-Ll 1 ■, ' J,\i»j 


1 iKT^''4j 

JJ JjlFE^lXiZ 


sns^ssy/ 


I. 





Tertiary sands and clays. This area is in large part 
subject to overflow, though portions are not reached 
by any ordinary tioods. It is mostly heavily tim- 
bered, especially in the swampy portion, and large 
amounts of lumber are shipped out annually. It 
also contains great tracts of prairie and cleared 
country of extreme fertility, and many flourishing 
towns and settlements have been built up within its 
borders. 

GEOLOGY. 

Nine geologic formations or systems, representing 
so many periods of geologic time are found in the 
State. These are, beginning with the oldest, the 
Archean, Algonkian, Cambrian, Silurian, Devonian, 
Carboniferous, Tertiary and Pleistocene. 

The Arche.vx. — The rocks of Archean age in 
Missouri consist chiefly of granites and porphyries 
or felsites. They occur exclusively in the south- 
eastern part and constitute the hills described on the 
preceding page as the St. Fi-ancois mountains. The 
porjjhyries are of varj'ing color, from light gray, 
pink, red and brown to almost black. They are 
generally massive, but frequently brecciated, and are 
sometimes banded, with the flow structure well 
developed. The texture varies from the vitrophyric 
to the microgranitic. The most important ores oc- 
curring in these rocks are the specular iron ores of 
Iron mountain. The granites are irregularly distrib- 
uted over the Archean area. They are intimately 
associated Avith the porphyries and seem to grade 
into the latter in jilaces ; elsewhere they are extremely 
coarse, and, in some instances, the quartz and feld- 
spar are in masses six and eight inches across. They 
are of gray, pink and red colors. Some black mica 
is found as an accessory mineral. About the only 
ore of economic value found in these rocks is the 
silver-bearing galenite of the Einstein mines, in 
3Iadison county. 

The Algonkian. — The Algonkian rocks are rep- 
resented at only a few localities in the vicinity of 
Ironton, associated with Archean rocks. The most 
noteworthy and extensive exhibit is on the summit 
of Pilot Knob. Here the formation is represented bj^ 
beds of conglomerate or breccia and of felsitic appear- 
ing slate. A bed of specular ore, some 30 feet in 
maximum thickness, constitutes one of the members 
of the series here. The fragments of the breccia 
consist of porphyry and, though sometimes rounded, 
are generally sub-angular. The matrix of the con- 
glomerate and the material of the slates is also felsitic 
and the texture is similar to that of the porphyry. 
The slate is fissile and cleavable in places, but is 
elsewhere massive. It is, in large part, highly ferru- 
ginous. The bed of iron ore is near the bottom of 
this series of rocks and is of elliptical outline and 
changes in character towards the margin by lessen- 
ing in iron contents or ''leaning out" as the miner 
expresses it. These Algonkian beds probably began 
forming immediately after the Archean rocks were 
consolidated. They nuist have originally spread over 
a wide area. Denudation before or during early 



Cambrian times has left only a few remnants. The 
maximum tliickness now to be seen is under 200 feet. 
The presence of these beds and the fact that only 
these remnants should be left is significant of the 
vast interval of time that must have elapsed between 
the Archean and Cambrian periods. 

The Cambrian. — The Cambrian system is repre- 
sented in Missouri by a succession of beds of magne- 
sian limestone and sandstone. These occupy the 
southern-central and southeastern portions of the 
State, and are particularly well developed in the 
Ozark mountains. In the St. Francois mountain 
region beds of conglomerate are found at the base of 
the formation consisting largely of porphyry, granite 
boulders and pebbles derived from the Archean 
hills. As the results of recent work, three main 
divisions of this system are provisionally recognized. 
These are, from the bottom upwards, as follows : 

(1) The La Motte sandstone, to which horizon the 
conglomerate above referred to may be assigned. 

(2) The Gasconade limestone. (3) The Roubidoux 
sandstone. This last is probably equivalent to the 
old "Saccharoidal" sandstone. The exact upper limit 
of this system is not yet defined; but, probably, it 
will be drawn below what has been called the First 
magnesian limestone. The maximum thickness of 
the whole system is about 800 feet. The strata of 
this formation are comparatively undisturbed. They 
are largely represented in the dome-shaped arch 
already referred to, known as the Ozark Uplift. 
Minor gentle flexures traverse this arch in places. 
The rocks have been eroded both by surface and sub- 
terranean waters, and, hence, local settling of the 
strata is quite frequent. This might lead to the idea 
that great flexing had taken place in places ; but such 
is not the case. The principal mineral product of 
economic value in these rocks are the lead ores of 
Southeastern Missouri and the iron ores of the central 
and southern portions of the State. 

The Silurian. — The outcrops of rocks of Silurian 
age are confined almost entirely to the eastern border 
of the State, where they are frequently exposed from 
Marion to Cape Girardeau counties. No exposures 
of these rocks have been found in the western part 
of the State, and it is probable, even, that they do 
not occur there beneath the overlying rocks. This 
system is divided into an upper and a lower series, 
the two aggregating about 600 feet in thickness. 
They consist of a succession of limestones and shales 
of varying character. Areally the rocks of this 
system are not prominent in Missouri, neither do 
they contain minerals of great economic value. 

The Carboniferous. — The Carboniferous system 
is divided into two series, the lower is known as the 
Mississippian or Lower Carboniferous, the upper as 
the Pennsylvanian or Coal ]\Ieasures. This formation 
occupies well-nigh the whole northern and western 
portions of the State. The Mississippian division is 
composed chiefly of massive beds of limestone, often 
crystalline and highly fossihferous. Thick beds of 
chert, shale and sandstone are, however, often in- 
cluded, the last two especially in the lower portion. 



The aggregate thickness is over 1,000 feet. This is 
the great lead and zinc bearing formation of South- 
western Missouri. Excellent building stone is also 
derived from the limestone beds, and they furnish, 
the best grades of quicklime. 

The rocks of the Pennsylvanian series overlie the 
Mississippian somewhat unconformably. A period 
of sub-areal erosion, over at least part of the latter 
formation, must have intervened. The series con- 
sists, in the lower part, of sandstones and shales, the 
latter partly arenaceous, with some limestone and 
coal. Higher up limestones and coals are more 
abundant, and the latter are more regular in distri- 
bution. At the top of the series, the limestones are 
most abundant. This is the great coal-bearing forma- 
tion of the State. The strata of this series, as well as 
those of the preceding member of the Carboniferous, 
are practically horizontal with but a slight dip to the 
west and northwest. Local departures from this rule 
exist, however. The aggregate thickness of the 
series is in the vicinity of 2,000 feet. 

The Tertiary. — The Tertiary rocks are confijied 
to the narrow ridge in Southeastern Missouri referred 
to on page 14. This is bounded by the alluvial plains 
of the Mississippi river. It consists of unconsolidated 
beds of clay and sand and lignite, covered by a stratum 
of chert gravel. The exhibited thickness is in the 
vicinity of 100 feet. How much the beds extend 
beyond this we are unable to say at present. 

The Pleistocene. — In the Pleistocene we include 
all of what are known as the glacial deposits of the 
State, as well as the more recent Quaternary forma- 
tions represented by the residuary loams and clays 
which cover the ground in the uplands, and the 
alluvial deposits of the plains along the larger 
streams. 

The glacial deposits cover the entire northern 
half of the State approximately down to the Missouri 
river. The materials are the usual clays, sands and 
boulders, which we will not attempt here to classify. 
Along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers are thick 
deposits of loess, capping the bluffs on both sides of 
the stream and sometimes fifty feet or more in 
depth. The alluvial plains along the rivers are of 
varying width, the maximum width on one side of 
the Missouri river being about eight miles. They 
constitute land of extreme fertility and large crops 
of corn and wheat are annually produced upon them. 

THE MINERAL PRODUCTS. 

The territory occupied by the State of Missouri 
has been known as a mineral producing area for 
nearly 200 years. Penicaut, one of Le Sueur's party, 
which ascended the Mississippi river in the year 
1700, refers to a mine west of the Mississijipi and 
west of Ste. Genevieve, whence the Indians got their 
supply of lead. This is the earliest reference which 
we have, and, as Carr says, it indicates with reason- 
able certainty the date when the French began to 
make use of the mineral resources of the region. 
Since that time the State may be considered a con- 



tinuous ore producer up to the present date. Iron 
mining was begun about the year 1815 ; coal was 
probably discovered in the earliest explorations ; we 
find records of its existence in 1804 ; in 1840, 8,903 
tons were mined, and from that time the production 
was continuous. Zinc was mined with lead ores for 
many years, but it was not utilized until 1869. Since 
then the growth of production has been rapid. 

Missouri's principal mineral products are zinc, in 
the production of which she ranks first in the coun- 
try; lead, in which she is second only to Colorado, 
and iron. In addition, she is a large producer of 
coal, her clays have a national reputation, and she 
has a great variety of excellent building and orna- 
mental stones. Among the minor products are quick- 
lime, glass sands, copper and barytes. A large 
number of the more common classes of mineral 
waters are scattered over the State. The distribu- 
tion, character and conditions of occurrence of these 
various materials of economic value we will now 
proceed to briefly describe. 

ZINC. 

Zinc may be considered Missouri's distinctive 
product. In it she ranks first among the States as 
a producer, and between one-third and one-half of 
the total zinc yield of the country comes from her 
mines. She thus stands as a source of supply for the 
whole country, and her zinc ores are even tentatively 
seeking the foreign market. 

The zinc region of the State is the extreme south- 
west, and this particularly in the counties of Jasper, 
Newton and Lawrence. These are the centers of 
production, nearly eight-tenths of the annual pro- 
duct coming from Jasper county alone, and ninety-six 
one-hundredths from the three. The ore is mined on 
a commercial scale in seven other counties. Zinc is, 
however, widespread in the State and is known to 
occur in greater or less, but still considerable, quanti- 
ties in as many as fifteen more counties. 

Zinc ore is known to have been mined in the past 
in Washington, Wright, Christian, Howell and Web- 
ster counties, and the following table shows the 
amounts mined in different counties in the year 1892 : 

Dade 103 tons. 

Barry , 192 " 

Green 899 " 

Jefferson 2,075 " 

Newton 8,343 " 

Lawrence 13,861 " 

Jasper 106,014 " 

Total zinc ore mined during 1892.. 131,487 tons. 
The ore principally mined is the sulphide of zinc, 
or sphalerite, commonly known as "jack," which 
occurs in several varieties, distinguished chiefly by 
color and known by the names of jack, rosin jack 
and black jack. It is the most abundant ore in the 
Jasper district. It is the most valuable of the three 
classes, and is now rated at about $22 per ton. The 
so-called "silicate" ores are of two varities, i. e., the 
true silicate, or calamine, and the carbonate, or smith- 



sonite, and they are difficult to distinguish by the 
eye. These ores are produced most abundantly 
about Aurora and Granby, and constitute the zinc 
ore of the .Valle mines in the northeastern corner of 
St. Francois county ; they are generally found near 
the surface in the shallower workings. They do not 
contain so large a proportion of zinc as does the 
sphalerite, which latter contains about sixty-seven 
per cent, while the true silicate has fifty-four per 
cent, and the carbonate fifty -two per cent. They, 
hence, bring a Iowit ]>rice and now sell at about $15 
per ton. 

Geologically the zinc ores occur in nearly all of 
the Paleozoic formations of the State, but outside of 
the ores from the Valle mines, those mined at the 
present date come almost exclusively from what has 
been described as the Mississippian formation, or 
from a great series of limestones and cherts, which 
immediately underlie the Coal Measures, or Penn- 
sylvanian rocks. It is not to be understood, how- 
ever, that these ores are co-extensive with this 
series, for these same rocks abound about St. Louis, 
and yet they are there practically destitute of zinc. 
Their development in this formation, on a scale of 
conmiercial importance, seems confined to the south- 
western part of the State, for some reason which we 
do not clearly understand, but which we are trying 
to find out. The ores do not occur in these rocks in 
sheets or beds, as does the coal in the Coal Measure 
rocks ; if so it would be a very simple matter to 
successfully direct prospecting and further develop- 
ment, rnfortunately for the progress of mining, 
however, the ore is of irregular distribution, some- 
times in thin sheets in crevices in the massive lime- 
stones ; sometimes in great chambers ; sometimes 
buried in clay and a mass of loose material which 
can be excavated by pick ; sometimes disseminated 
through solid, brecciated rock which has to be blasted 
down ; sometimes lining cavities with drusy crystals. 

The reasons for the j)eculiar conditions of occur- 
rence of these zinc ores are chiefly assignable to 
structural considerations, and to the nature of the 
country rock of the region in which they are found. 
We have there a series of layers of limestone, and 
of chert or "flint," piled upon each other, varying in 
thickness from a few feet to twenty and more. 
Those have existed for a very long time, and the 
limestones have been subjected to the solvent action 
of waters percolating through them. These percolat- 
ing waters have by degrees produced channels along 
planes of fracture, which have been developed into 
subtei-ranean passages, have dissolved away whole 
layers of limestone, allowing the overlying insoluble 
chert beds to break down, and to partially fill the 
cavities with their fragments. The clays, so abundant 
in some deposits, are probably the residues of dis- 



solved limestones, all of which latter have more or 
less clay in their make-up. In these cavities, in the 
residuary clays and around the broken rock frag- 
ments, the zinc ores have been deposited ; brought 
there in solution, perhaps, by the very waters which 
have dissolved the limestones, possibly by waters 
issuing from great depths. That is, the zinc may 
have been originally disseminated in minute quanti- 
ties throughout the surrounding limestone rock, and 
have been concentrated through the medium of the 
dissolving waters; it may have been similarly 
collected from overlying beds, or it may possibly 
have been brought to its present position from a deep 
source in ascending waters. This is a problem which 
we are still trying to solve, and which is of vital 
importance to the successful development of our 
mining industry. 

Zinc mining in the State is of very recent origin. 
Zinc ore was taken out along with the lead ore at the 
Valle mines, and thrown aside on the dumps for 
many years, but not until 1869 did it become an 
artijcle of shipment. In the southwest, zinc mining 
may be considered to have begun in the year 1870, 
when the Granby mines began to work it. With the 
increased use of zinc since that time for galvanizing 
and other purposes, the production has increased 
rapidly and constantly. During the past sixteen 
years the price of spelter in New York has varied 
from 7 cents per pound in 1875 to 4.34 cents in 1885- 
and to5.05 cents in 1891. 

Concerning the production of zinc ore in Missouri 
during past years, figures of any kind are ditficult to 
obtain, and exact figures are in many cases unattain- 
able. The, table on following page is compiled from 
figures derived from many different sources, supple- 
mented by estimates where figures were not attainable. 

The grand total is 1,117,500 tons of ore produced up 
to and including the year 1890. This, at $22 per ton,, 
is equal to $24,585,000. 

That the zinc output of the State has reached its 
maximum rate, no one maintains. That the pi'oduct- 
ive area is in any way exhausted of ore, there is na 
reason to think. On the contrary, we look for a con- 
tinued discovery of fresh deposits as prospecting: 
advances. That much of the mining of these ores in. 
the past has been crude and Avasteful is true, and it 
still remains so to a great extent. Improvements 
are, however, being introduced both in the mining: 
and milling of the ores. These factors of success 
should be given more attention in the future. Pro- 
fessional knowledge should be applied to the prob- 
lems presented, to the methods of excavating, of 
draining, of hoisting, of concentrating; the small, 
single-handed, hand-to-mouth practices of the past 
are enormously wasteful and should give way to large 
projects systematically and scientifically directed. 



ZiNx Ore PROorcTiON in Missouri. 



Year. 

1892. 
1891. 
1890. 
1889. 
1888. 
1887. 
1886. 
1885. 
1884. 
1883. 
1882. 
1881. 
1880 ~ 



f 



1876 J 

1875.. 

1874 

1873 

1872 

1871 

1870 



Tons of ore produced. 

131^500 

123,800 

100,200 

82,400 

74,600 

69,400 

58,400 

50,600 

54,000 

45,500 

43,000 

43,600 



170,000 

23,500 
32,000 

6,000 
5,000 
4,000 



Total : 1,117,500 



LEAD ORES. 

Lead ranks next to zinc in prominence as a Mis- 
souri metal, and her production is only second to 
Colorado's in the United States. Lead, like zinc, is 
widely distributed over the State, is known to occur 
in thirty or more counties, and was mined during the 
past year in fourteen. Much of the lead ore occurs 
associated directly with the zinc ores, and the two 
are mined togetlier; but elsewhere the lead is by 
itself. The counties which are at present the prin- 
cipal lead producers are: St. Francois, Madison, 
Washington and Jefferson, in the southeast, and 
Jasper, Lawrence, ^sewton and Greene in the south- 
west. Of the total lead produced nearly one-half 
comes from St. Francois county, and nine-tenths 
comes from the four counties of St. Francois, Madi- 
son, Jasper and Lawrence. 

The distribution of lead mining among the coun- 
ties of the State is shown in the following table, as 
well as the amount of pig lead produced by the 
several counties during the past year : 



Crawford. 
Wright. 
Christian. 
Hickory. 



Perry 

St. Francois 15,430 

Washington 1,166 

Miller 16 

Greene 264 

Lawrence 3,719 

Newton 812 



PRODUCERS IN P.\ST YE.\RS. 

Morgan. 
Cooper. 
Texas. 
AVebster. 

PRODUCERS IN 1892. 

Tons. 
4 



Madison . 
Jefferson. 
Franklin . 

Cole 

Barry 

Dade 



Camden. 
Benton. 
Moniteau. 
Saline. 



Ton.s. 

2.865 
268 
98 
23 
55 
64 



Jasper 7,476 



Total production pig lead in 1892 32,260 



Lead is mined in two forms. One is the familiar 
galenite or sulphide of lead, the other the cerussite, 
or carbonate of lead, known as "dry bone." The lat- 
ter is generally a direct product erf the decomposition 
of the former, and is found near the surface, while the 
former is reached at depths. The galenite is the 
more common and the more valuable ore, it contain- 
ing about eighty-seven per cent of lead, wdiile the 
carbonate contains only about seventy-eight per cent. 
Very little of the latter is now produced. The aver- 
age price at which galenite was sold at the mines, in 
1892, was a little over |44.00 per ton. 

The lead ores of the southwest, being immediately 
associated with the zinc ores, occur in the same 
formation as the latter, namely in the Mississippian 
limestones, and the conditions of occurrence are 
essentially the same. Both the galenite and the 
cerussite are found here; the former, however, in 
greatest abundance. The lead ores of the southeast, 
however, occur in much older rocks, in what are 
known as the Cambrian limestones, and little zinc 
ore is found associated with them, excepting at the 
Valle mines and others in that vicinity. The condi- 
tions under which they are found are also remark- 
ably different from those of the ores of the southwest. 
The latter occur in a more or less concentrated state, 
in large crystals, in cavities, or in irregular deposits, 
whereas these southeastern ores are found through 
solid limestone rock, generally in small crystals, in 
a disseminated condition, and hence are called "dis- 
seminated ores," in contradistinction to the concen- 
trated ores of the southwest. Moreover, they occur 
in certain layers or strata of limestone, and, hence, 
may be considered in a stratified condition, though 



Pig Lead Production in Missouri. 



Year 
1892. 
1891. 
1890. 
1889. 
1888. 
1887. 
1886. 
188.5. 
1884. 
1883. 
1882. 
1881. 
1880. 
1879. 
1878, 
1877. 
1876. 
1875. 
1874 
1878. 
1872. 
1871. 
1870. 
1869 
18681 



1720 j 




Tons of pig lead produced. 

. 32,260 

31,000 

28,840 

31,590 

22,610 

16,720 

22,780 

20,916 

14,330 

18,390 

23,870 

25,630 

24,850 

22,386 

23,112 

24,680 

22,550 

16,480 

15,160 

13,840 

10,220 

6,840 

7,060 

6,480 



45,560 

50,400 

4,500 
31,200 

3,900 

5,590 



16,095 



Total 639,839 



the ore is not found co-extensive witli the limestone 
rock in which it occurs at any point. The lead ores 
of Mine La Motte, Doe Run and Bonne Terre are 
such. The ore is here exclusively galenite as at pres- 
ent mined. The carbonate was extensively dug 
during the earlier years of mining, from shallow 
surface deposits, but, at the greater depths at which 
mining is now carried, this ore is not found. 

Lead is recognized as the metal which has been 
longest mined in the State. L^p to quite recent date, 
however, this mining was confined to the southeast- 
ern part. As already stated we find mention of lead 
mining as early as the year 1700. In 1723, Mine La 
Motte, in Madison county, was discovered, and mining 
of the surface ores w-as begun, and has been intermit- 
tingly continued ever since. The "Old Mines" near 
Potosi, in Washington county, were discovered in 
1726, and the Mine Renault, in the same county, about 
the same date. In 1763, the Mine a Burton, also near 
Potosi, was discovered, and about the year 1800 a 
number of mines in St. Francois county were opened. 
The Valle mine, in St. Francois county, was discovered 
in 1824, and the Perry mine about the same time ; the 
Virginia mines, in Franklin county, in 1834; the 
Avon mines, in Ste. Genevieve, in 1848. Mining on 
a large scale was begun at the St. Joe mines, in St. 
Francois county, as late as 1868, while the Doe Run 
mines were not opened until 1888. About the ear- 
liest record of mining on a commercial scale in the 
southwest is in 1850, where it is recorded tjiat about 
100,000 pounds of lead were produced in Newton 
county. The Granby mines in the same county 
bagan operations about the year 1854. Concerning 
the production of pig lead in Missouri, we have com- 
piled and estimated from various sources the figures 
(jl the table on page 19. 

From this table we see that, during the past 
two decades, fully two-thirds of the total output has 
lieen produced. The average price of lead up to the 
end of the year 1803 is estimated to have been 
5 cents ; from 1804 to 1854, 4 cents ; from 1855 to 1874, 
7 cents; from 1875 to 1890, 4 cents. The average 
price of lead in the New York market in 1873 was 
6.32 cents per pound; from this it declined, with 
fluctuations, to 3.61 cents in 1878, and from that date 
it has risen, with fluctuations, to 4.35 cents in 1891. 
Despite these fluctuations, however, the production 
in the State has continued to increase, as is exhibited 
in the table. Applying various approximate values 
for the different periods to the different products up 
to 1892 inclusive, the value of the product is, in round 
numbers, §56,000,000. 

The future of lead mining in the State is a 
question of considerable moment to its industrial 
growth. A comparison of the production of the year 
1892 with that of 1891 shows an increase of 1,260 tons 
for the latter year, or about 4 per cent. Will this 
rate of increase be maintained, and for how long? 
An increase of lead production in the southwest will 
undoubtedly accompany the increase of zinc produc- 
tion which we have already stated is probable; but 
as only about a fourth of the production of lead is 



from that region, it is evident that we must look to a 
vigorous sustenance of the industry in the southeast 
for the rate to be increased, or even maintained. 
For this we cannot rely entirely upon the mines 
which are now the largest producers ; they must be 
supplemented by the discovery of new ore bodies, 
and by the opening of new mines. Prospecting is 
now in progress in various sections of this region, 
and much success has attended some of the opera- 
tions. The work of the Geological Survey in the 
district is not far enough advanced for specific pre- 
dictions to be ventured here ; that within the great 
untouched areas of the formations containing these 
ores extensive and yet undiscovered ore bodies exist, 
is, however, probable. 

IRON ORES. 

Iron mining in the State is confined to a portion 
lying south of the Missouri river and east of the 
marginal line of the Coal Measure. Within this area 
mining has been prosecuted during the past year in 
the following seven counties : 



Tons 

Dent 24,800 

Howell 300 

Iron 7,000 



Tons. 

St. Francois 79,000 

Crawford 13,800 

Phelps 1,300 

Franklin 300 

Total production of iron ore during 1892 ... 126,500 

During preceding years iron ores have been 
mined to a considerable extent in nine other counties 
as follows : 



Stoddard. 
Bollinger. 
Wavne. 



Washington. 

Callaway. 

Butler. 



Madison. 

Oregon. 

Camden. 



Geologically, the iron ores occur associated with 
the rocks of nearly every formation in the State, 
from the Archean to the Pleistocene, but the manner 
of their occurrence in these formations is quite 
different. The iron ores of the Archean and Algon- 
kian formations are the most widely known and 
have yielded the bulk of the product to date. These 
are the familiar specular ores of the Iron Mountain 
and Pilot Knob mines. They are Missouri's best 
ores with the largest percentage of iron and are 
mostly of Bessemer grade. The ore at Pilot Knob 
occurs in a great sheet in Algonkian rocks, while at 
Iron Mountain it occurs in tongue-like masses or 
veins penetrating the porphyry in an irregular 
manner. Another class of ore, known as detrital 
ore, occurs at both points and consists of boulders 
scattered through the superficial material over the 
surface, or along the contact between the pori^hyry 
and overlying Cambrian limestones and sandstones. 
The mode of origin of the massive ore in the porphyry 
is a somewhat obscure question; it was probably 
deposited from a solution of iron in water, either in 
cavities existing in the porphyry or by replacement 
of the original materials of the rock with iron from 
such solutions. The immediate origin of the detrital 
ore is a simple question ; that over the present surface 
having accumulated through the decomposition of the 
porphyry since Paleozoic times, while that between 



the limestone and porphyry was accumulated in a 
similar manner before the deposition of the rocks of 
that series. 

In the second class of ores are the specular and red 
hematites of Crawford, Dent and Phelps counties, 
which have been sources of large supply during past 
years. These are also excellent ores, but the iron 
content is not so high nor is the percentage of 
Bessemer grade so large as with the specular ores of 
the porphyries. These ores occur generally in strat- 
ified rocks of Cambrian age, and are frequently closely 
associated with the sandstones of that formation; 
they are also found in the Mississippian formation. 
Their mode of occurrence is peculiar, they having 
evidently accumulated in cavities formed in the 
limestones. Thus, at the Cherry Valley mine, in 
Crawford county, we have a great depression, like 
an inverted cone, from which half a million tons of 
ore have been taken. The sandstone beds, which 
flank the sides of this cone, and the remnants of 
such beds which occur in the ore body, dip towards 
tlie center of the cavity, indicating that, from the 
solution of a great layer of limestone, a cavity was 
formed into which the overlying and insoluble sand- 
stones sank as the roof of the cavity collapsed. In 
this cavity waters accumulated bearing iron in solu- 
tion, which was leached from the surrounding rocks, 
and there the air oxidized the iron contents and 
caused its deposition. By a long continuation of 
this process the great body of ore has accumulated. 

The third class of iron ores of noteworthy impor- 
tance are the limonites of the southern and extreme 
southeastern counties. These are comparatively low 
in iron content, averaging about forty-seven pe^: 
cent, and are generally non-Bessemer. They are, 
however, very abundant, and deserve more consider- 
ation than they have received. The ores mined in 
Howell county are of this class. The mode of occur- 
rence of these ores, and the manner in which they 
have been formed, are similar to those of the last 
class. They occur in the limestones and sandstones 
of the Cambrian system, and have apparently accum- 
ulated in cavities in these rocks, like the former. 
They occur in an earthy and porous condition, mixed 
with chert and other foreign materials, and also as 
pipe stem ore which has accumulated, like stalactites, 
from drippings of chalybeate waters; the latter is 
generally the better ore. 

From what has been said concerning the occurrence 
of these ores, it is evident that they are of uncertain 
distribution, and their existence at any point, is, in a 
certain sense, adventitious. They are not confined 
to any one stratum, as is coal, nor to any one forma- 
tion. They exist where the rocks and the conditions 
of erosion and deposition were favorable for their 
accumulation. They can only be discovered by 
detailed examination over each area. There are few 
general laws governing their distribution to guide one. 

The earliest iron mining in the State was in 1815, 
on Shepherd mountain, in Iron county, and the next 
was in Crawford county, at the Harrison-Reeves 
bloomery, in 1820. At the Meramec mine, in Phelps 



county, mining was begun as early as the year 182H. 
The Meramec furnace was built in the year 1828, but 
the first blast furnace erected in [Missouri w^as by 
Eversol, Perry and Kuggles, in 1823 to 1824, between 
Potosi and Caledonia. At Iron Mountain, mining 
did not begin until 1844, when surface ore was 
dug by the American Iron Mountain Company. The 
first iron ore was smelted there in 1848, when furnace 
No. 1 was put in blast. Soon after 1858, on the com- 
pletion of the Iron INIountain Railway to Pilot KnoV), 
the first shipments were made. In 1869, the present 
Iron Mountain Company was organized. The la.st 
iron made at Iron Mountain was in 1887, and up to 
that date the total amount of pig made there was 
192,731 tons. The total amount of ore mined at Iron 
Mountain up to the year 1892 is, approximately, 
3,500,000 gross tons. Pilot Knob was first entered in 
1835, but Httle work was done until 1847. In 1848 the 
first furnace was built. About 1853 the Pilot Knob 
Iron Company was organized. The total amount of ore 
which has been mined at Pilot Knob to date is about 
1,500,000 tons, and, in addition, about 107,000 tons 
have been taken from Shepherd Mountain and 
adjacent points. 

In Franklin county, a few deposits were worked 
between the years 1855 and 1860, and supplied the 
old Franklin furnace near Moselle, which was erected 
in 1859. In Crawford county, the Scotia iron furnace 
was erected in 1849; the Benton Creek mine was 
opened in 1873, and the Steelville, Grover and Iron 
Ridge banks were operated about the same time. 
Cherry Valley was not opened until 1878. In Dent 
county, the Simmons Mountain and a few other 
banks were operated in 1874. In Phelps count}-, the 
Meramec, Buckland and Beaver Creek banks were 
operated in the same year. 

The table on the following page shows the growth 
and decline of Missouri's iron production from its 
beginning to the present. 

The total amount of iron ore produced to date is, 
thus, 7,715,124 tons ; from different values applied to 
different periods we obtain as the value of this total 
product the sum of $30,050,612. 

The decline in Missouri's iron product is in sharp 
contrast to the increase in i:)roduction of her other 
minerals, and calls for serious consideration. In 1880, 
she ranked sixth in the Union; in 1890, tenth; in 
1891, thirteenth, and she now probably ranks still 
lower. This sudden fall is to be attributed, in large 
part, to the cessation of work at the Pilot Knob mine, 
which was practically abandoned last year. That 
the well-known deposits of specular ores in the State 
can no longer play the important part in the iron 
industry that they have in the past seems unfortu- 
nately probable. If the industry is to be maintained 
other sources of supply must be developed. Among 
the most promising fields for future activities, obser- 
vations lead one to point to the limonites of the south- 
ern part of the State, which have heretofore 
remained practically unnoticed. That they are lower 
in iron contents and inferior in grade to the high- 
class ores used in the past, is not disputed. But that 



Iron Ore Production in Missouri. 



Year. 

1892... 

1891... 

1890... 

1889... 

1888... 

1887... 

1886... 

1885... 

1884... 

1883... 

18821 

1881 J 

1880... 

1879 



1872 J 
1871.. 
1870., 
18691 



1861 
1860^ 



1850, 
1849^ 



1815 




Tons of ore produced. 

126,000 

138,356 

232,835 

265,718 

217,931 

427,785 

379,776 

234,160 

233,235 

295.430 



604,007 

, 386,197 

, 2,582,694 

240,000 
. 316,000 

, 625,000 



310,000 



100.000 



Total. 



7.715,124 



they are so much so as to be of no practical use is 
not the case. Their distribution, quantities and 
qualities have been determined by recent work of 
the State Geological Survey and a report just dis- 
tributed deals at length with these ores. That they 
will bear shipment does not seem probable, but their 
development will probably best be by the establish- 
ment of furnaces and the production of pig within 
the mining region itself. 

COAL. 

Of the four prominent mineral products of Mis- 
souri, coal, iron, zinc and lead, coal is the most wide- 
spread, and is, doubtless, the most important when 
measured either by tons or by values. Its mode of 
occurrence is also the simplest. 

The coal within the Coal Measure or Pennsylvan- 
ian area lies in beds or sheets, between similar beds 
of limestone, shale or clay, piled one upon the other 



to thicknesses of many hundreds of feet. Thus coal 
beds are sometimes near the surface, and are some- 
times buried at great -depths. They are sometimes 
continuous over areas of many square miles, and 
sometimes dwindle from a workable to an insignifi- 
cant thickness within the same square mile. The 
greatest development of coal beds in the State is over 
the marginal area, as is indicated by the distribution 
of coal mines ; here the beds are also nearer the sur- 
face, which makes them more accessible. In the 
extreme northwestern counties there is less available 
coal of workable thickness, though we have there the 
greatest accumulation of Coal Measure rocks, (a 
thickness of about 2,000 feet) . 

Just what is "workable thickness" is, of course, a 
variable term. In Pennsylvania a bed less than three 
feet thick was not considered workable, and would 
not compete with other beds five and more feet thick. 
In Missouri beds as little as eighteen inches thick 



Coal Production in Missouri. 



Year. 
1892. 
1891. 
1890. 
1889. 
1888 
1887 
1886, 
1885, 
1884, 
1883 
1882, 
1881. 
1880. 
1879. 
1878. 
1877. 
1876. 
1875. 
1874. 
1873. 
1872 
1871 
1870 
1869 




Tons Produced. 

3,017,000 

2,650,000 

2,437,399 

2,223,000 

4,023,000 



.1,800,000 
.2,750,000 
.2,500,000 
.2,250,000 
.2,000,000 
.1,750,000 
.1,144,618 
. 900,000 
. 900,000 
. 900,000 
. 900,000 
. 750,000 
. 714,000 
. 700,000 
.1,321,930 

. 621,930 



.8,302,195 



100,000 

272,255 

8,903 

Total 44,936,230 



are extensively worked with profit, in fact as much 
as one-fourth of the annual production is from beds 
not over two leet thick. The reasons for this are in 
the conditions of the trade and in the manner of 
occurrence of the coal. The greatest thickness of 
any one coal bed in tlie State maintained over a con- 
siderable area, is about five feet ; that is of a coal 
bed within the area of what Ave may term the regular 
Coal ^Measures. Beyond the margin of this forma- 
tion, however, there are isolated deposits of coal of 
more limited superficial area, but of great vertical 
dimensions. These are familiarly known as "coal 
pockets." The coal in these pockets sometimes has 
the phenomenal thickness of fifty and even seventy 
feet. These deposits have frequently given rise to 
false hopes and illusions. The supply of coal which 
any one of them can yield is always comi^aratively 
small and will never warrant very large outlay for 
the development. The area of the Coal Measures of 
Missouri is, approximately, 23,000 square miles, dis- 
tributed over fifty-seven counties in whole or in part. 
Coal pockets occur in many other counties. It occu- 
pies nearly the entire half of the State north of the 
Missouri river and extends south of that stream 
along the western border of the State in a strip 
nearly fifty miles wide. It thus occupies almost 
exclusively what we have termed the prairie country 
of the State. 

During the year 1892 there was mined, according 
to the State Mine Inspector's figures, 3,017,000 tons, 
distributed in the thirty-three counties as follows : 

Tons. Tons. 

Macon 685,335 Bates 659,924 

Lafayette 347,600 Randolph 297,011 

Rav 272,948 Henry 137,258 

Putnam 134,984 Vernon 119,036 

Barton 108,784 Caldwell 38,333 

Linn 35,588 Audrain 29,792 

Grundv 28,670 Boone 21,058 

Callawav 16,551 Montgomery 16,039 

Adair 14,820 Johnson.....' 10,485 

Sulhvan 8,800 Dade 6,881 

St. Clair 5,405 Saline 4,440 

Cedar 4,181 Cooper 3,666 

Chariton . 2,312 Nodaway 1,850 

Cole 1,548 Carroll 1,380 

Livingston 1,000 Schuyler 766 

Pettis 433 Ralls 280 

Miller 127 

Total amount of coal mined during 1892... 3,017,285 

Coal digging was probably practiced by early 
settlers for forge uses, and similar small local pur- 
poses. From such beginnings the coal industry 
grew, and it is thus impossible to set a definite date 
for its birth. One of the earliest references is that 
of Captain Pike in 1806, who speaks of fine seams of 
coal far up the Osage river. In the report of the 
Lewis and Clarke expedition, performed during the 
years 1804 to 1806, the existence of coal in the State 
is also mentioned. According to a congressional 
report, there was mined in the State in the year 1840, 
8,903 tons of coal. From other sources we learn that 
there was weighed at the city scales of St. Louis in 
1846 about 70,000 tons, the great advance being 
ascribed to the increase in the business, and the 
number of founderies and factories in the city. 



Between the years 1850 and 1860 a large uiiuhmi; i.i 
coal was mined in St. Louis county, but we iiave as 
yet obtained no figures indicating the amount pro- 
duced. In 1860, coal was mined for shipment at 
Carbon, Macon City, Bevier, Lexington and St. 
Louis. The product at Lexington supplied most of 
the steamboat trade. The first coal mined on the 
Missouri Pacific Railway, we are informed by Prof. 
G. C. Broadhead, was in 1867, by the Pacific Coal 
Company, near Center Town, in Cole county, and 
was from a pocket. Mines in Johnson county were 
opened soon after this. 

From the recorded statistics of production, com- 
bined with estimates where exact data were not 
attainable, the table of coal produced to date has 
been compiled. (See preceding page.) 

From this table it is seen that the total amount 
of coal thus far produced is, in round numbers, 
45,000,000 tons; this, at a valuation of $1.50 per ton, 
represents $67,500,000. 

REVIEW. 

This completes what will here be said concerning 
the four prominent mineral products of Missouri. 
Reviewing this we see that of these there has bc'eu 
produced, up to and including the year 1892, tlie 
following amounts : 

^Production in 1892-^ Total produced to date. 
Tons. Values. Tons. Values. 

Zinc ore... 131,487 $2,862,475 1,117,500 $24,585,000 
Pig lead.... 32,260 2,194,029 639,839 56,000,000 
Iron ore... 126,500 234,607 7,715,124 30,050,612 
Coal 3,017,285 3,825,828 44,936,230 67,500,000 



Total. ..3,307,553 $9,116,939 54,408,693 $178,135,612 
Referring to the tables accompanying the preced- 
ing pages we see that lead has been produced for the 
longest period, iron for the next greatest, coal nest, 
and zinc last. That the value of the coal product is the 
greatest and is represented by a very large bulk, which 
is significant as indicating the amount of traffic which 
a coal industry gives rise to ; that the value of pig 
lead product is next, but is represented by an almost 
insignificant bulk as compared with coal; that the 
value of the zinc product is third, but is represented 
by a somewhat larger bulk than lead, due to tlie fact 
that the tonnage is of ore and not of spelter ; that 
the value of the iron ore produced is least of all, but 
is represented by a comparatively large bulk. The 
productions of zinc, coal and lead have increased, 
and this more rapidly with the zinc than with any 
one of the others. The production of iron in the 
State was large and increasing between the years 
1870 and 1887, but it has fallen off alarmingly 
during the past few years. The value at present 
of the annual production of coal, zinc and lead 
are not very widely separated, being about four, 
three and two millions of dollars respectively ; 
while the iron product represents a value of less 
than one-quarter of a million. 

That Missouri has prominent rank as an ore pro- 
ducer is evident from comparisons made with other 
States of the LTnion. Of these products, her lead, 
zinc and coal are articles of traffic and export, as are 



also her clays and limes, and her supplies of these 
are large. They are thus sources of direct income, 
and, in addition, supply home needs. In other 
materials for domestic consumption the State is also 
splendidly endowed, and, as her population increases, 
and her local industries develop, the full value of 
these possessions will become more and more appre- 
ciated. 

CLAYS AND SHALES. 

Missouri possesses in great abundance clays suit- 
able for all ordinary uses, such as the manufacture 
of common, fire and ornamental brick, for paving 
brick, sewer pipe, drain tile and pottery. In addi- 
tion, she possesses large quantities of superior fire 
clays, which have, so far, been principally used for 
the manufacture of fire brick, glass house pots and 
gas retorts. Recent work of the State Geological 
Survey is further developing the fact that there are 
also large deposits of clays suitable for the manufac- 
ture of stoneware and china. So far as investiga- 
tions have gone to date, the following is a list of the 
counties in the State which contain clays of the 
characters specified : 

Fire Clays. — St. Louis, Franklin, Crawford, 
Phelps, Morgan, Cooper, Henry, Warren, Callaway, 
Audrain, Randolph, Greene and Clay. 

Stmievare Clays. — Stoddard, Scott, St. Louis, 
Moniteau, Cooper, Morgan, Henry, Cass, Vernon, 
Barton, Jasper, Christian, Polk, Monroe, Shelby. 

China Clays and Kaolin. — Cape Girardeau, Bol- 
linger, Iron, Jefferson, Oregon, Howell, Morgan. 

The clays for common uses are derived chiefly 
from the loess, or from residuary products of rock 
decay. Paving brick is manufactured largely from 
Coal Measure shales, as is also much of the sewer 
pipe and drain tile. Fire brick, pots and retorts are 
made largely from the Coal Measure clays, especially 
in the works of St. Louis. A^arious proportions of 
what are known as "rock clays" are, however, 
mixed with these. Some fire clays, stoneware and 
china clays of the State occur in pockets in older rocks, 
from the Cambriail up to the Mississippian. They are 
hence of doubtful age, though of comparatively 
recent formation. They are altogether peculiar 
deposits, both as regards the conditions of occur- 
rence, as "v\'ell as the character of the material. 

The common clay products used in ordinary build- 
ing purposes are manufactured in all the larger towns 
of the State. Excellent paving brick are produced 
at Moberly, in Randolph county. There are large 
sewer pipe works at St. Louis and Kansas City. 
Fire brick and other refractory clay products are 
made on a large scale in St. Louis ; also at Fulton in 
Callaway county, and Mexico and Vandalia in 
Audrain county and in Montgomery county. Potter- 
ies are operated in St. Louis, Kansas City, Henry 
county and at a few other points in the State. 
,f Missouri clays have a high reputation, especially 
8 the fire clays. The products, as well as the raw ma- 
B terial, have been shipped to all parts of this country 
' and to foreign countries also, such as Mexico, South 



America and Africa. They are destined to have a 
great development in the future, and will be the basis 
of a large industry. 

BUILDING STONES. 

Missouri is abundantly supplied with building 
stones for all ordinary home uses, and shipments are 
made from many of her quarries to foreign points. 
In this list are included limestone, marble, sandstone 
and granite, and, for ornamental purposes, Mexican 
onyx. Among the limestones, the most prominent 
source of building material, are the Mississippian 
beds which are quarried about St. Louis, near Spring- 
field in Greene county, in Dade county, at Carth- 
age in Jasper county, about Hannibal in Marion 
county, about Louisiana in Pike county. This stone 
is of a light gray color, coarse-grained, crystalline 
and often takes a fine polish. From some of the 
quarries it can be obtained in blocks of almost 
any dimensions required. Fine joints sometimes 
traverse this rock in a horizontal direction, known as 
"Crows feet" or "suture joints." These, though 
not directly impairing the strength of the stone, are 
lines of attack and will become lines of weakness 
with long exposure. 

The marbles of the State are confined principally 
to the southeastern portion, to Iron, Madison, Rey- 
nolds and Ste. Genevieve counties. Some so-called 
marble has been found in northern "Warren and 
Montgomery counties. None of this stone has been 
extensively used so far. The beds in Madison and 
Iron counties are seldom over a foot thick and are 
often less. The stone is gray, pink and red colors, 
often beautifully marked. The Ste. Genevieve 
county bed is thicker, but not uniform in texture, 
though often handsomely marked. Quite extensive 
openings have been made in these latter beds, and 
some of the product has been shipped to Chicago, 
but the obstacles in the way of transportation, and 
other causes, have prevented their extensive devel- 
opment. 

The sandstones of Missouri are of excellent 
quality, and are very abundant at a number of places. 
Some of the best stone in the State is found in Ste. 
Genevieve county, a few miles south of the town of 
that name. The stone was quarried extensively 
between the years 1873 and 1887. The face at 
present exposed is about twenty feet high. The stone 
is of a huffish yellow color. It has been used in the 
approaches of the Eads bridge over the Mississippi 
river at St. Louis, in the Iowa State House and in 
other important structures. Grindstones are also 
manufactured from this stone. The Warrensburg 
sandstone, in Johnson county, is operated by a 
number of quarries in which faces fifty or more feet 
high are exposed. This stone is extensively used in 
Kansas City and other places in large and handsome 
buildings. It is of a uniform light drab and also of a 
yellowish color. At Miami, Carroll county, is the 
White Rock quarry. Here a face some sixty feet 
high is exposed. The stone is similar to that at 
Warrensburg; large quantities have been quarried 



for window and door sills and caps and for other 
purposes. In Vernon county are a number of de- 
.posits of sandstone of good quality, but some is 
adapted only to interior work. 

The onyx of Missouri is of the variety known as 
Mexican, and is arragonite or carbonate of lime. It 
has been developed only quite recently, chiefly in 
Crawford and Pulaski counties. It is also known to 
occur in Howell, Stone, Barry, Laclede, Camden, 
Morgan and other counties ; nothing more than 
specimens have been obtained as yet from these 
counties, however. It is generally of a brown or buff 
color, though sometimes of a clouded white ; it admits 
of a high polish and is often translucent. It is 
generally found in caves and is a product of the 
deposition of lime from percolating waters. 

LIMES, SANDS AND GRAVELS. 

Of these common materials of construction Mis- 
souri has an abundant supply. Limes of the very 
best grades are manufactured at several points in the 
State. Large quarries and kilns are operated in and 
about St. Louis, at Hannibal in Marion county, at 
Louisiana in Pike county, at Ste. Genevieve, at Cape 
Girardeau, at Springfield and at Ashgrove in Greene 
county, at Carthage in Jasper county, and in 
Callaway county, and at other points in the State. 
The rock used in all these cases, with the exception 
of Cape Girardeau, is from the Mississippian series. 
It is a remarkably pure limestone, especially that 
quarried at Louisiana. 

Sands and gravels are abundant along the streams 
in all parts of the State, but especially south of the 
Missouri river. Sand is dredged from the channels 
of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers at several 
points. The river bars are also sources of gravel, but 
the glacial deposits and river terraces of earlier 
Pleistocene age are perhaps more frequently resorted 
to. In the vicinity of Pacific, and at other points in 
Franklin county, beds of gravel occur well above the 
present flood plains of the stream. These are mixed 
with a ferruginous clay W'hich becomes very much 
compacted under wagon or foot travel. Many car- 
loads of this gravel are shipped to St. Louis annually 
and used for a top dressing along some of the streets 
and boulevards. 

MINERAL WATERS. 

Missouri possesses a large number of mineral 
waters, many of which are of undoubted therapeutic 
value. They are not confined to any one part of the 
State, but are most abundant in the central and 
western portions. These waters have recently re- 
ceived extended study, and, as a result, they are 
divided into the following five classes : 

(1) Muriatic waters, (2) Alkaline waters, (3) Sul- 
phatic waters, (4) Chalybeate waters, (5) Sulphur 
waters. 

The Muriatic waters are essentially brines, and 
salt is their main and distinguishing constituent. 
They are among the most abundant in the State, and 
the volume of their flow at some of the springs is 



very large. The amount of mineral matter in the 
different waters varies greatly and ranges as high as 
1800 grains to the gallon. In Alkaline waters sodium 
or magnesium carbonate are the distinguishing con- 
stituents. Comparatively few of such waters are 
recognized in the State, and those examined are not 
highly m.ineralized, the maximum amount of mineral 
matter contained being 95 grains to the gallon. Sul- 
phatic waters contain one or more sulphates as their 
distinguishing constituents. Very few of these have 
been discovered. They contain as much as 570 grains 
to the gallon. The Chalybeate waters are very 
abundant in the State ; they are distinguished by 
containing ferrous carbonate in solution. The maxi- 
mum amount of mineral water contained in any 
examined so far is 150 grains to the gallon. Only 
two Sulphur waters have been determined. These 
contain sulphur combined as a sulphide or sulphy- 
drate. The waters analyzed contain about 120 grains 
to the gallon. 

Most of the mineral springs in the State are 
frequented by people living in the neighborhood and 
a large number are improved, so as to provide for the 
care of at least a few guests. Extensive or complete 
improvements of a sanitarium have been made only 
at a few places. The most important of these are at 
Excelsior Springs in Clay county, near Kansas City, 
at Lebanon in Laclede county, at Pertle Springs in 
Johnson county, at Sweet Springs in Saline county, 
at Clinton in Henry county, and at Nevada in 
Vernon county. 

MINOR MINERAL PRODUCTS. 
COPPER, BARYTES, GLASS SANDS AND SILVER. 

Copper. — Among the minor mineral products cop- 
per ore is of quite frequent occurrence, generally in 
the form of the sulphide, chalcopyrite, or of the car- 
bonate, malachite. The principal occurrences of such 
ore are Ste. Genevieve, Shannon and Franklin coun- 
ties. It is found at these places in the magnesian 
limestones of Cambrian age; the ore follows the 
stratification planes, but is apparently formed by 
replacement subsequent to the deposition of the 
rocks. At the Cornwall mines, in Ste. Genevieve 
county, extensive mining operations were prosecuted 
in the past and reduction works were erected. At 
present no mining of copper ore is done in the State. 

Barytes. — In production of barytes, Missouri ranks 
second in the Union, according to the figures of the 
11th census, and her product is credited with being 
the purest. In 1889 the production was 7,558 tons, 
valued at $32,715, and in 1892 it was about 10,000, 
valued at nearly 140,000. This production is distri- 
buted over Washington, St. Francois, Miller, Morgan 
and Jefferson counties. Nearly four fifths coming 
from the first-named county. The material is obtain- 
ed largely from the dump piles of old lead mines, it 
being found in crevices in the limestone associated 
with the lead ore. At some localties it is dug directly. 
The product is used chiefly in the manufacture of 
paint. 



Glass iSands.— Sands suitable for the nianufucturo 
of plate and other qualities of glass are abundant in 
the eastern part of the State, especially in Franklin, 
Jefferson and Ste. Genevieve counties. The forma- 
tion known as the Saccharoidal sandstone is the chief 
source of this material. Such sand is dug and 
shipped at Pacific and Tavern Rock in Franklin 
county. About 750 carloads, valued at $10.00 per 
car, were shipped in the year 1892. At Crystal 
City, in Jefferson county, an equal amount of sand 
was shipped, and, in addition, the large plate glass 
works erected at that place were supplied. F'rom this 
point 180 carloads of plate glass were shipped in 
1892, valued at $1,253,000. 

Silver.— The only occurrence of silver in Missouri 
is at the Einstein silver mines on the St. Francois 
river, in Madison county. Here a nearly vertical vein 
of quartz occurs traversing the Archean granite and 
carrying argentiferous galenite. Picked specimens 
of the latter yielded to the assay all the way from 
a fraction of an ounce to 184 ounces to the ton and 
one specimen much exceeded the last figure. The 
mine was operated some 13 years ago and an incline 
and shaft were sunk. The mine has been abandoned 
ever since for causes which are not clearly known. 
Many are still confident that paying ore exists here. 



014 572 862 9 i 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

Limitations of space have prevented anything like 
a full treatment of the many topics included in the 
preceding article. The attempt has been made to 
convey in these few pages a clear, but generalized 
idea of the geology and mineral products of the State 
of Missouri. The coals, the iron ores and the mineral 
waters of the State have receiyed quite full treatment 
in the volumes on these subjects recently issued by 
the State Geological Survey. A report on the sub- 
ject of zinc and lead ores is now being prepared by 
the State Geologist and will be ready for distribution 
later ; reports on other subjects are prepared 
or are in course of preparation and will be issued 
from time to time. To these works the reader is 
referred for more detailed information. In the pre- 
ceding article the writer has drawn largely from these 
reports or manuscripts of the survey', but for the 
figures of production and shipments during the past 
few years, he is, in addition, indebted to the pub- 
lished reports of the State Mine Inspector, Mr. 
C. C. Woodson, and of the ex-State Labor Com- 
missioner, Mr. W. C. Hall. 







A 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 572 862 9 « 



